ms. mary and her awesome vintage jewelry collection

ms.mary

pretty butterfly pins

my late mother barbara gettys hamilton would be defined by some people as a hoarder and others as a Collecter. she was born in the thirties which would mean that she survived segregation, the civil rights movement,the black cultural movement, black and white television,lace tablecloths, depression glass , milk glass, bakelite typewritters and a black president too name a few. i think that people of her generation have experienced soo many cultural transitions that they begin to collect items of thier past. items that bring them back to Sunday dinners as a child, a certain type of pocketbook worn to a formal, a song with lyrics that made them smile. i believe my mother began purchasing her items as a collection of memories. three years later today i am still going through her items and i have found that she loved pretty things...lace , sparkly jewelry, shiny pocket books and colored dishes. i recently ran into a woman in west Philadelphia named ms. mary. never in my life had i met some one whom had such an extensive costume jewelry collection as. no one had my mother beat but i think she comes very close. i walked by her table and had to take a seat. because i could not believe it what a collection!!!!! meet ms. mary she migrated to Philadelphia during the depression from the Carolina's. she is a mother of 6 children and attends church every sunday. she has been collecting for 35 years . she enjoys wearing jewelry and use to go to flea markets to shop. then her friends would call her as they moved out their homes and into assisted living dwellings and offer her some of their collection. she decided then she had tooo much stuff and transformed her collection into a business. she shares a small piece of her legacy with the world 0n 48th and baltimore avenue in west philadelphia  twice a  month on the weekends. karimu abena hamilton